环球英语 — 77： International Day for Disabled Persons

　　Voice 1
Hello. I’m Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I’m Rachel Hobson. Welcome to Spotlight¹. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
‘Happy are the people who understand my strange step, when walking, and my heavy hands.
Happy are the people who know that my ears need strengthening to understand what is said.
Happy are the people who understand that though my eyes shine, my mind is slow.
Happy are the people who listen to me, because I have something to say.
Happy are the people who know what is in my heart, though I could not express it.
Voice 1
These are words from a poem called ‘Bienaventurados’. The word is Spanish for, ‘happy’ or ‘blessed.’ The poem’s writer sent this poem to a group in Argentina - the National Association of the Promotion² of Disabled Persons. The writer of the poem is very skilled. The writer is also disabled.
Voice 2
December the third is the International Day of Disabled Persons. There are many kinds of disabilities. Some people have physical disabilities - they may be blind, deaf, or not able to walk. Other people have mental disabilities - their brains act differently in some way.
Voice 1
Some people do not like the word ‘disabled’ because it is negative. It is talking about what a person cannot do. They use the words ‘differently abled’. So how different can a person be - before other people feel uncomfortable - not at ease? Why do differences create barriers? And how do people deal with them? In some parts of the world, this is a very serious issue. In fact, in the worst cases, differences lead to death.
Voice 2
Theodory Mwalongo works for ADD - Action on Disability and Development. ADD is an international development group. Theoodory is ADD’s representative in Tanzania. He told a shocking story. It is about the power of attitudes towards disability.
The story is sad. It is happening in the twenty first century. It is happening in our communities to people with disabilities. It is not only in many places of Tanzania. It is also in other parts of the world.
Voice 4
Sunday the second of September, 2007. A six year old child is murdered. Police report that the murderer is her father. The little girl was born disabled. Reports say that the father blamed the mother for giving birth to her. The father said it was an evil curse on the family. He said that he would kill the child one day.
Reports say that the little girl was outside playing on the day of her murder. She was playing hide and seek with other children. Her father hit her with a heavy object. He hit her head until the life left her. The other children cried for help. People in nearby houses came. The father was taken to the police station. Reports say that he had been drinking alcohol. And he admitted to killing³ his daughter. He said he did it to clean his family of the evil curse from her birth.
ADD Tanzania is working with the Tanzania Federation⁴ of Disabled People. They issued a joint⁵ Press Statement. It condemned⁶ the killing of the innocent child.
Voice 1
Reports like these are rare. But there are many other similar cases in countryside areas. There is a long way to go in changing attitudes towards disabled people. Where did the father’s opinion come from? Well, some old traditions tell people that disabled children are a curse from God. Yet across the world the mothers of many disabled children disagree. They say their children are a blessing⁷. They say that life is a blessing - a blessing from God.
Voice 2
For International Day of Disabled Persons, we give some time to listen to the words of the experts in this subject - those with disabilities. First, a poem translated from Maritza Melara Castillo in El Salvador.
Voice 5
‘I cannot run.
Yet each road has its goal.
I cannot dance to rock and roll, or jazz and pop.
And yet I enjoy the music so much.
I cannot walk alone to the edges of the sea
Yet the deep movement of the waves encourages me.
The sunset amazes me.
The hugeness of the sky and water shake me.
To sit on the sand, to see the birds, to greet the sun.
To listen to the silence...to laugh - and to cry.
To smile at someone passing by. To speak your name.
To feel you melt me with your look. Discover me behind the image, bend my defences.
I hear your voice.
How small and huge I am.
I make the moon mine when I dream.
Behind my defences.
Still, I know that I have loved. I have felt. I have loved. I have lived it all.
And even more. Lover, I think there is still more.
Voice 1
Carolyn Vash is a doctor of psychology⁸ - a study of the mind. She became a doctor after being disabled by polio. People know her for her expertise⁹ and knowledge, not her disability. She talks about the power of attitudes towards disability. She said:
Voice 6
‘Attitudes drive our behaviour. What we believe and how we feel largely controls what we do. Our behaviour then reinforces our beliefs and feelings’.
Voice 2
Knowing someone is one of the best ways to break down barriers of fear and difference. It is one of the best ways to change people’s attitudes. Together, knowledge and understanding can remove the fear of differences. They can make individuals and communities change and grow. They can help people to see the humanity that connects all beings -whatever their differences. We finish with some more words from our opening poem - Bienaventurados.
Voice 3
‘Happy are the people who see me and love me as I am, as I alone am. And not as some would want me to be.
Happy are the people who help me in my life’s trip towards the home of my heavenly father.’
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

7 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

8 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

9 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。